happiness

A few weeks ago, fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana made some pretty controversial comments. In addition to opposing same-sex marriage, they also made critical comments about IVF, suggesting the procedure and other forms of fertility treatments created “synthetic babies.” While this blog has been a great outlet for me to share my ideas on fashion, food, fitness, parenthood, and more, I have tried to keep it free of any bigger picture discussions about politics or social issues. Until now.

IVF, and fertility treatments in general, are something that strike incredibly close to home for me, and for Ken. Without fertility treatments, we wouldn’t have any children. IVF gave me (us) the two most important gifts in our life. So Dolce and Gabbana… your comments were more than a little offensive and hurtful.

Ken and I first started trying to have kids in the Spring of 2008. As I hadn’t had a regular cycle in years, I was already skeptical of my ability to get pregnant. On a startling phone call from my OBGYN, I was told that if I wanted to have children, I immediately needed to see a specialist. And so seconds later, I placed the call.

We recently discovered that the husband of one of Ken’s old friends is obsessed with two dollar bills. Amazingly awesome, right? I had no idea that two dollar bills still existed (use the two!) and so I swapped some cash for some of his two dollar bills. Turns out, Matt loves using two dollar bills as doing so has helped make the simple process of exchanging money lead to amazing stories, connections, and interactions. Odd, quirky, and inspiring! Talking to him made ME want to start collecting two dollar bills and handing them out to people; taxi drivers, manicurists, coffee shops, you name it!

Matt goes to the bank each week to get his stack of bills for the next week or two. His story about his interest in 2 dollar bills was so touching and elegantly odd (ironic?), that I knew I had to interview him and inspire us all to BRING BACK THE TWO! As Matt likes to say, he does not like to collect twos. He just likes using them.

Elias, Matt’s 10 month old son, is also highly interested in two dollar bills.

One of Laura’s birthday gifts to Matt this year, was a 2 dollar bill stamp (because apparently, Matt also really likes stamps.)

According to Matt, “Everyday is Mardi Gras for me. Another ‘Fat Twos’ Day.” Love it.

Random and fascinating, here is the interview with Matt! Enjoy! (I want to start a collection that is so unique and obscure that people find my hobby and collection inspiring and touching!)

When did you become interested in $2 bills?

I started on this path in the summer of 1992 when I was living in San Francisco, working in the financial district (I was at Lehman Brothers at the time) and I discovered that my local bank could supply me with $2s. I was hooked. Subsequently, I cashed all my paychecks in $2s. My mantra is to spread the joy of $2 bills and to make transactions and merchant interactions fun and to spread the happiness of $2 bills throughout our system.